A new report has claimed that longtime Halo developer 343 Industries is being taken off of “active development” of the franchise and that new games in the series will be created by third-party studios. According to Halo leaker Bathrobe Spartan–who has a solid track record leaking Halo inside information–and translated by Metro, Microsoft’s mass layoffs have hit 343 Industries hard and will see up to a third of its workforce laid off. Veteran developer Joseph Staten is reportedly exiting the studio and will rejoin Xbox Publishing.
Les licenciements au sein de 343 Industries s’inscrivent malheureusement en conséquence d’une mauvaise gestion du studio et de ses effectifs par les personnes en charge.
Si cela aurait pu être évité, l’impact sur la stratégie reste minime: du contenu axé multijoueur.
🧵 Thread pic.twitter.com/eB1AyaNk1O— Bathrobe Spartan 🎧 Podcast Halo (@BathrobeSpartan) January 19, 2023
343 Industries will then take on a parental role for Halo, overseeing new games and content while working on maintaining the game’s engine. This isn’t entirely new territory for 343 Industries as it has relied on outside help to develop Halo Infinite’s multiplayer content (Season 2 is a prime example of this), but Bathrobe Spartan claims that the planned story-based DLC has been scrapped due to it being considered not cost-effective under 343’s stewardship.
A follow-up to Halo Infinite is also expected to enter pre-production alongside spin-off titles, with these games reportedly being franchised out to other studios and being developed on more modest budgets. While Halo Infinite had a strong launch, recent months have seen 343 Industries criticized for delayed content rollouts, tedious multiplayer progression, and numerous bugs.